I spent five years at Forbes writing about business and leadership, attracting nearly one million unique visitors to Forbes.com each month. While here, I assistant edited the annual World’s 100 Most Powerful Women package and helped launch and grow ForbesWoman.com. I've appeared on CBS, CNBC, MSNBC and E Entertainment and speak often at conferences and events on women's leadership topics. I graduated summa cum laude from New York University with degrees in journalism and sociology and was honored with a best in business award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) in 2012. My work has appeared in Businessweek, Ladies’ Home Journal, The Aesthete and Acura Style. I live in New York City with my husband and can be found on Twitter @Jenna_Goudreau, Facebook, and Google+.

12 Ways To Eliminate Stress At Work

The average business professional has 30 to 100 projects on their plate. Modern workers are interrupted seven times an hour and distracted up to 2.1 hours a day. And four out of 10 people working at large companies are experiencing a major corporate restructuring, and therefore facing uncertainly about their futures. This may be why more than 40% of adults say they lie awake at night plagued by the stressful events of the day.

“People are asking me for answers,” says Sharon Melnick, Ph.D., a business psychologist and author of just released Success Under Stress. “Everyone feels overwhelmed and overly busy.”

Is there a way to maintain steady focus throughout the day? Is it possible to do everything that needs to get done and still have energy left over after work? How do you keep cool under so many demands? Informed by 10 years of Harvard research and field-tested by more than 6,000 clients and trainees, Melnick offers the following strategies to take your work stress down a peg, before it takes over your life.

Act Rather Than React

“We experience stress when we feel that situations are out of our control,” says Melnick. It activates the stress hormone and, if chronic, wears down confidence, concentration and well-being. She advises that you identify the aspects of the situation you can control and aspects you can’t. Typically, you’re in control of your actions and responses, but not in control of macro forces or someone else’s tone, for example. “Be impeccable for your 50%,” she advises. And try to let go of the rest.

Take A Deep Breath

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or are coming out of a tense meeting and need to clear your head, a few minutes of deep breathing will restore balance, says Melnick. Simply inhale for five seconds, hold and exhale in equal counts through the nose. “It’s like getting the calm and focus of a 90-minute yoga class in three minutes or less at your desk,” she says.

Eliminate Interruptions

“Most of us are bombarded during the day,” says Melnick. Emails, phone calls, pop ins, instant messages and sudden, urgent deadlines conspire to make today’s workers more distracted than ever. While you may not have control over the interrupters, you can control your response. Melnick advises responding in one of three ways: Accept the interruption, cut it off, or diagnosis its importance and make a plan. Many interruptions are recurring and can be anticipated. “You want to have preset criteria for which response you want to make,” she says. You can also train those around you by answering email during certain windows, setting up office hours to talk in person or closing the door when you need to focus.

Schedule Your Day For Energy And Focus

Most of us go through the day using a “push, push, push” approach, thinking if we work the full eight to 10 hours, we’ll get more done. Instead, productivity goes down, stress levels go up and you have very little energy left over for your family, Melnick says. She advises scheduling breaks throughout the day to walk, stretch at your desk or do a breathing exercise. “Tony Schwartz of the Energy Project has shown that if we have intense concentration for about 90 minutes, followed by a brief period of recovery, we can clear the buildup of stress and rejuvenate ourselves,” she says.

Eat Right And Sleep Well

“Eating badly will stress your system,” says Melnick, who advises eating a low-sugar, high-protein diet. “And when you’re not sleeping well, you’re not getting the rejuvenating effects.” According to the CDC, an estimated 60 million Americans do not get sufficient sleep, which is a critical recovery period for the body. If racing thoughts keep you from falling asleep or you wake up in the night and can’t get back to sleep, Melnick suggests a simple breathing trick that will knock you out fast: Cover your right nostril and breathe through your left for three to five minutes.

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Great article and ideas. I know this morning after waking up to a long day of working yesterday I decided to take some time today and relax! I will usually wake up these days and listen to some great brain wake meditation music to get my day off in the right direction! What is your morning routine? Have a Great Day! Steve Dorsey

Glad it resonated with you! What’s my morning routine? I start the day by either jogging or doing core exercises. Then I have breakfast while checking the headlines. I read several digital newspapers on my commute to work, and then usually write in the mornings, when my brain is most rested and focused.

Nice routine.I also try to follow it but some complicated about the situation.After working Hard in day,I also use to read and write in online which make me awake in long night for this why I am making late in wake up in morning.I except some tips from you to get rid of this.

Heya this is a a good article , I’d just like to say I’m no accountant, so multiple invoices mean jack to me, stress is seeing what needs attention knowing it can’t be done an being obliged to try anyway..to attempt the impossible is to eliminate stress.. Stress is what man strives to eliminate without it there’s hollow competition, ( not including some sporting and or skill full competitions) haha that’s why theirs the challengers..

I’ve read a lot of articles on dealing with stress at work. I grasp the concepts that are suggested and I understand that the data gathered and used for statistics are based on the median. I would like to see an article on how to reduce stress for those on the extreme side. How do those who work under the hardest, most stressful conditions, deal with that overbearing stress hour to hour, day to day. You can’t even reach your desk in the morning before it starts, you work through lunches, no breaks until you feel your bladder about to explode and are forced to make a run for it. Plus you are trapped in that job by the need of income and responsibility to your family. How does one deal with the most extreme job stress?

All stress is to do more with less. That is, less time and more targets. That is, less energy and more work. This situation creates burn-outs and fatigue. And the moment fatigue and burn-out enters the Murphy’s law rules the ground.

What is the way then? The way out is Mindfulness. It is a way to let-go stress and attain to one’s innate nature of free flow. Mindfulness is not full of mind. That is why it is called Right Mindfulness. It is being present in the moment. It is understanding the nature of things as they are. It gives our energy a new direction. Our inner energy regains vibrancy. It gives us a new energy and new enthusiasm in which our capacity to do more with less increases and zooms. The Emotional Quotient increases. The Happiness Quotient increases. And the resultant of all this is Peak Performance and Peak Productivity. Thanks :)

Thanks for the great information – not dealing with stress can quickly become anxiety panic attacks or depression…..I am not anxiety free however very long road. I hope that others listen to your message and save the pain !

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I appreciate your advice Jenna, great way to end the article with “Be Your Own Best Critic”. I have had to overcome some serious issues with stress in the past and I went to great lengths to fix this problem. I found that www.nomorestressandanxiety.com is the best source of information for anyone who wants to eliminate stress and anxiety in their lives.

Stress at work is a topical subject, and duely so. There is mounting evidence that workplace stress is taking a serious toll on the lives of employees. Work related mental health illness is escalating and stress is the major cause.

Why is it then that the obligation for changing this rests with the employee? Everyday one publication or another has an article on the top ten hints to beat workplace stress or to build resilience at work, but we see nothing directed at the companies that create the stress that guides them on how to reduce these stressors.

The last time I checked every country with a modern industrial and employment law framework places an obligation on employers for the physical and mental health and wellbeing of their workers. Stress and stress related illness is clearly covered by these industrial instruments and legislation yet we continue to treat this as an issue that the individual worker has to deal with, perpetuating the situation that lets employers off the hook.

With due respect to the contributor to this article, I wonder if the Psychology fraternity have considered this and have a position, as it would appear that mending broken employees would provide a lucrative revenue stream, as would providing training in coping with stress.

The stress people experience at work is a consequence of how that business is operated, managed and lead. A business intent on reducing its employees exposure to stress by eliminating or reducing the stressors it creates can turn people’s working life from a horror to a delight, but until such time as we focus on the causes of this institutional stress and make companies accountable for what they create, instead of just telling our employees to toughen up, nothing will change.